I always enjoy coming out here to be with you. From what I’ve been able to tell, in the times that I’ve been out here, everybody seems to get along pretty well, and that’s great. We should all try to get along with each other. It’s pretty hard to follow Jesus’ command to love our neighbors if we’re not able to at least tolerate each other’s company.
Still, you would not be human if there were not times when you had disagreements. No matter how much we might like each other—even if we love each other—we still have times we disagree. It’s part of human nature, and sometimes those disagreements can become pretty emotional. Sometimes our feelings get away from us, and we say things we should not say and do things we should not do.
Now, some of you may have noticed that my wife, Wanda, is not here today. That’s not because we had a disagreement; she’d like to have come out here with me, but she had a meeting to go to. On the other hand, there are times when we have our disagreements. Everyone does. What’s important is to not let those disagreements get out of hand, so that they become major rifts that can destroy relationships.
As most of you know, this is not a new problem. It existed back in Jesus’ time, too. There were disagreements between people within the church. Jesus knew it was important not to let those disagreements get out of hand, and he told people what to do to make sure that did not happen.
He says, first of all, that if you feel someone has wronged you, go directly to that person. Don’t talk behind their back, don’t tell everyone else about the problem, go to them directly. Not only are we supposed to go to them directly, we’re supposed to go to them when the two of us can be alone. After all, the problem is just between the two of us, so if possible, we should settle it just between the two of us.
If that does not work, though, we’re not supposed to just give up on the relationship. We’re supposed to go to the person again, this time taking one or two other people with us. Note, though, that these one or two others are not supposed to be there to take our side. Jesus says these one or two others are to act as witnesses. They’re not supposed to take an active part in the conversation at all; they’re just supposed to be able to confirm to others what happened when we went to this person.
If that does not work, we’re still not supposed to give up on the relationship. Instead, Jesus says we’re supposed to go to the church and ask for help.
You know, in my five years as a pastor, I’ve ever had anyone do that. In fact, I’ve been going to church my whole life and I’ve never known of anyone doing that. There are a couple of times I’ve had people ask me for advice in relationships, but I’ve never known anyone to bring their problem with someone else to the whole church. I’m not sure what I’d do if they did. It’s totally beyond my experience, and I suspect it’s beyond the experience of most of you, too.
What this shows, I think, is that Jesus had a different idea of what it means to be “the church” than we do. We sometimes think of “the church” as a building. Other times, we might think of “the church” as a congregation. We may even think of “the church” as a specific denomination. Jesus, though, did not think of “the church” in any of those ways. To Jesus, “the church” is the people of God.
If we think of the church as the people of God, then it’s entirely natural that we would bring our problems with someone else to the church. The people of God are supposed to care about each other. The people of God are supposed to be there for each other. The people of God are supposed to help each other. The people of God are supposed to be reconciled to each other. The people of God are supposed to love each other.
What would it mean in your life if, instead of thinking of the church as a building or a congregation or a denomination, you started thinking of the church as the people of God? What would it mean in my life? How would it change what we think of as the role of the church? What things would the church do that it does not do now, if we thought of the church as the people of God?
I don’t know for sure, but there’d be a lot of them. The people of God would not stand by when they saw a relationship splintered; they’d step in to help. The people of God would not wait for someone else to help when they saw people in trouble; they’d take action themselves. The people of God would not wait for the government to help people who are hungry or homeless; they’d help them themselves. The people of God would not wait for people to come in to the church to hear the word of God and be saved; they’d take the word of God to those people.
It may seem to you, in your current situation, that there’s not much you can do about any of those things. Maybe not, but there is something that each of us can do. It may be a small thing, but that’s okay. God does not ask us to do everything; God asks that we do all we can. If each of us does all we can, the church will be doing what God wants it to do. Then, the church will truly be the people of God.
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